With the first look at “Captain America: The First Avenger” during the Superbowl last night proving surprisingly decent, our hopes are slightly higher for the film; not hard, admittedly, considering how dismal its big superhero competition looks this summer, but the spot was confident and tonally assured, and we’re now a little more optimistic that the picture could turn out to be some old-fashioned fun, even if creepy Benjamin Button-ed Chris Evans could be something of a stumbling block.
With the film’s big unveiling, there’s been a flurry of news on the project in the last few days: the poster, the magazine covers, the stills. But perhaps the most unexpected piece of Cap-related news that broke over the weekend? The showtunes. Badass Digest reports that Alan Menken, the multi-Oscar-winning composer of score and songs for the likes of “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” and “Enchanted,” is involved in some capacity in creating songs for the film.
It’s been widely reported that the plot involves the good Captain joining a USO-type show to entertain the troops, so it seems most likely that Menken’s input will come in there, although it’s worth noting that the film doesn’t have an announced composer as yet; Michael Giacchino recently denied rumors that he was involved, and Digest reports that Menken definitely isn’t scoring the picture. But presumably his contribution would have had to be ready for shooting months ago, so it seems odd that it’s only coming to light now.
Either way, the prospect of a legitimate superhero song-and-dance number is intriguing, although we hope that Menken comes up with something a little more memorable than his work on “Tangled,” which, like the film, was pleasant but bland. Despite the composer’s impressive Oscar-winning run (with 8, and the very real prospect of a ninth this year for “Tangled,” he’s behind only Alfred Newman and Walt Disney in terms of total wins), we think that the breathless hopes of some of the geekier sites that “Captain America” could be a Best Original Song nominee in 2012 are wishful thinking at this point…